The Sweet Spot

“When you do common things in your life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world”, said teacher, inventor, agriculture-scientist, botanist, nature-lover and my sustainability hero, Dr. George Washington Carver . An early proponent of composting, he said “Waste is man-made; nature produces no waste; whatever is consumed is returned to the whole in a reusable form. Man fails to utilize appropriately the bounty of nature”. While I am inspired by his words, work and philosophy of life, I started small, by doing common things in a common way. Such as separating my kitchen and organic waste in a separate bin than my trash bin.  We got a smell free, rust free, indoor composting pail with charcoal filters (there are other options). Instead of dumping kitchen and food scraps in with the regular trash, it was easy enough to separate it into this pail. We were already separating recyclables, so separating the wet waste reduced our trash to ¼ of the original, and much li...

The sky is overcast and one can imagine the song “ghanana ghanana ghir ghir aayee badara” from the movie Lagaan, as the surroundings looked lush with trees and saplings of all sizes covering the pale sand over ten to twelve acres. There are trees of many varieties like Neem, Khejri, Acacia, desert teak and fruiting trees like pomegranate, among other native species. As the person in the video indicates there is a temple and sand dunes intact outside, in the vast, otherwise barren landscape of the Thar desert around Barmer district of Rajasthan, one can’t help but wonder why the landscape is so lush inside the compound, even attracting rain, and wildlife such as peacocks and deer.  The video depicts a forest adopted by philanthropists Vivek and Vandana Sharma, who, through their foundation have given back to the community through multiple projects in New England and beyond. This project in Rajasthan, and another one in Vidarbha, Maharashtra, is through SankalpTaru (Sankalp:Pledge, T...

  My inbox and social media feeds were filled with offers “$0 out of pocket for solar installations”, as I had recently searched for rooftop solar installation prices just out of curiosity. The “smart” marketing apps continued feeding these ads, unaware that we have had a solar installation for the past couple of years. Two years ago I would have cringed at these ads. But now, happy with our installation, I was more patient and willing to give them more credit. Being an ardent follower of clean energy initiatives, we explored solar panel installations including a solar roof, many times over the last decade, years before they were ready for prime time. While we were still exploring, others around us were taking the plunge and reporting complete satisfaction with their installations. I was really impressed to see the system my cousin had installed in India, which p owered all of his law office, which hosted 10+ employees, plus a part of his residence. Finally for us, the stars aligne...

Every time I returned from visiting my family in Toronto, Canada or Indore, India, I was all pumped up about doing more for the environment. In both these places I am reminded of the importance of separating wet and dry, recyclable waste. Rotting of food or organic wet waste in landfills is the third largest source of methane emissions in the United States. Half of the landfill gas is methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that causes way more harm to the environment than carbon dioxide. And there is a simple way each of us can contribute - by composting our food waste, so it doesn’t end up in landfills, generating tons of methane. I had experienced the Canadian system tens of years ago. Though Indore is a recent star. Only five-six years ago one could see heaps of trash at road sides all over the city. There was no trash collection system from homes, let alone recycling or composting plants. In the past few years there has been consistent, exponential growth in building ...

The crabapple trees in my yard are awake after being dormant all winter; now covered with bursting buds and fresh young green leaves, where only recently their bare branches were adorned by white powdery snow. I bought this pair of saplings in a sale, some ten years ago, after the associate at the store narrated how the berries on these kind of trees attract birds, among many more of its virtues. The trees haven’t disappointed, starting to flower in spring with pink buds, blossoming into fragrant white flowers. The flowers are a magnet for bees. The leaves fill up into a lush, darker green into summer, as the flowers peep through, slowly turning into clusters of pink mini apples. Towards the end of summer the berries turn red and become glossier and shinier through early fall. True to the associate’s story, it attracted all sorts of local birds. The first few years of having the fruit, I assumed the berries were ornamental, and at best food for the birds. With every passing year, t...